When I think of the qualities of a great nurse, I don’t just think of their education and skill set. To me, a great nurse is someone who is compassionate and really cares for their patients. It is not something that is taught. It is at the very core of who they are. Carrie Robinson is one of those great nurses.

Recently, she was caring for a patient who had suffered a very traumatic experience with multiple injuries. The patient was a young woman who had long hair that was very damaged due to her injuries. Carrie told her patient that she had suffered and lost too much already and she didn’t want her to lose her hair too. After her shift, Carrie went to the store and purchased a bag full of products to try to salvage her patient’s hair. As you can imagine, it isn’t an easy task to have a salon day in the ICU, but Carrie did just that. She spent hours working on her hair. After the patient transferred out of the ICU, Carrie continued to go visit her patient. Unfortunately, she and the patient realized that cutting her hair was necessary despite their efforts. Carrie was going to try to hire someone to come to the hospital to cut her patient's hair, but thankfully, the patient was able to be discharged! This is just one example of how Carrie goes above and beyond on a daily basis.

In addition to working full-time, being a wife, and mother, she is also in NP school and has clinicals almost every day that she is off. Yet, she always shows up giving her best. I'm not sure that I’ve ever seen her in a bad mood or having an “off” day, and she never even hesitated to say yes when she was asked to be the chair person for our nursing committee. She precepts almost incessantly and continues to mentor long after the orientation is complete. She does all of this while also battling her own autoimmune disease.

One of her coworkers said, “Being one of Carrie’s patients is like becoming a member of her family. She brings sunshine to every situation and is always so eager to help regardless of the need. We are so blessed to have a nurse like her at FGH”. Having lost her own mother several years ago due to chronic illness, I think Carrie understands more than most, just how important it is to treat patients with compassion, dignity, and respect. While I am sure that losing her mother shaped her life in many ways, I can’t help but believe that it created a passion in her to care for others. She truly is a ray of sunshine and I believe that she is the kind of nurse that Patrick Barnes’ family had in mind when they created the DAISY Award! We are in fact, so blessed to have her on our team and in this profession!